And so friends Halloween is here, filling kids with sugar-cheer. But for every adult young or old, it’s time for stories to be told. The tale of Freddy, burned and scarred. The tale of Carrie, pushed too hard. The tale of Reagan, heads will spin. The tale of Jaws with giant fin. Be it psychos, possession, or monsters that cleave, horror films are what we like on All Hallows’ Eve!
If you’re not dressing up and partying tonight, odds are you’re hunkering down for a night of thrills and chills. Whether it’s to get genuinely scared or merely laugh at the hilarity of B-grade slasher flicks, Halloween is the perfect opportunity and these days, we’re spoilt for choice! Here are a few of our favourites:
Slashers and Psycho Killers
The slasher is the iconic image of Halloween. A black silhouette with a knife raised, a girl’s scream, and then corn syrup splattered across a wall. Psychos and slashers have been around since moving pictures began and today there’s a whole gory smorgasbord of flicks available to those who like to turn the lights out and take the phone off the hook:
A Nightmare on Elm Street: Nancy and her friends are stalked and slaughtered in their dreams by the disfigured and vengeful ghost of Freddy Kruger. It may seem a little dated by today’s CGI standards, but Wes Craven’s iconic slasher flick still packs a punch. The villain is a wisecracking, teen-murdering ghost who was a child-molester in life and very into self-harm. It’s a classic revenge story taken to a new level by its death-by-dream sequences, which are graphic enough to make you hit the energy drinks.
Halloween: Before he was Austin Powers (just kidding) Michael Myers was wearing an eerie white mask and murdering babysitters in this John Carpenter classic. After killing his sister at the tender age of 6, Michael escapes from the asylum and comes home…to wreak more havoc on unsuspecting teens. With no rhyme or reason to his murderous tendencies, Michael is one of the scariest slashers in cinematic history and the original Halloween is still the one you want to watch on October 31st.
Child’s Play: There is nothing more frightening, and more capable of tapping into irrational fears than a film that utilises the playthings of a young child and re-imagines them as something diabolical. Clowns, balloons, dolls… cue, Chucky! A cute, boy-shaped mound of plastic possessed by the soul of a psycho killer, who doesn’t remember that innocent voice through that nightmare filter of a psycho doll speaking without batteries? “I’m Chucky, wanna play?” No thank you! Taking Freud’s theory of the Uncanny to a whole new level, Chucky is a slasher that spawned an entire sub-genre; we definitely wouldn’t have Annabelle without him. – Niyati (FIB Editor-In-Chief & Filmmaker)
Scream: In Wes Craven’s ‘90s meta classic, Sidney Prescott and her peers are stalked and slaughtered by a killer in a ghost-face mask. Scream is one of the most cleverly written horror movies around, openly discussing the makeup and methods of the genre. It may not be aware of its narrative status, but it sure as shit is aware of the trends in pop culture and even today, it still holds relevance in an eerie way: “it’s the millennium, motives are incidental” – Randy.
And hey, if ‘90s meta is too dated for you, you can check out Cabin In the Woods – just as twisted and great!
Monsters
When we think ‘monster movie’, we think of those wonderful Universal black and white B-graders like King Kong or Creature From the Black Lagoon, but not all monster flicks are so trivial:
Jaws: This was the perennial flick that made people afraid to swim in the ocean! Playing with the newly discovered genre of eco-horror, Steven Spielberg’s ’75 classic is bloody, gruesome, and rendered even scarier by the fact that it could happen! A seaside town is plagued by a great white shark so monstrous, it takes a western style shootout to defeat it. The facts may be a little hit-and-miss, but the suspense, underwater shots, and haunting tuba soundtrack still make Jaws terrifying; not to mention the horrifying sounds of kids drowning and bones crunching… shudder.
The Thing: Leaving behind the 6 year-old psycho and moving on to unidentifiable monsters, John Carpenter created another classic with this one. Blending horror and science fiction, The Thing is about a group of scientists in Antarctica who are terrorised by a parasitic, shape shifting, extra-terrestrial. Suspense prevails alongside the upchuck reflex of seeing hands being bitten off, and stomachs turning into horrific scenes reminiscent of Alien.
It: Curry or Skarsgard; it doesn’t matter which Pennywise you prefer, Stephen King’s coming-of-age horror about kids being abducted and mutilated by a shape-shifting monster is a classic for a reason. Whatever scares you, you’re sure to find it in here somewhere. Another film that plays with the Uncanny, the opening scene alone is enough to make you steer clear of storm drains.
The Fly: David Kronenberg’s adaptation of the poor scientist who accidentally morphs his DNA with a fly’s is gross, horrific and tragically sad. Amidst the stomach-churning scenes of fingernails falling off and acidic mucus, is a touching and awfully sad love story that will have you in tears by the end. For those who are so nice they wouldn’t harm a fly, you might rethink that after watching this flick.
The Babadook: This Australian gem about a mother and son haunted by a white-faced monster with scissor-fingers and a top hat is one of the creepiest things ever! Taking on a psychological edge, it’s a non-stop thrill ride of taboo and suspense. Seriously, after watching it I couldn’t bear the sound of a cockatoo for a week!
Possession and the Paranormal:
Ghosts have been the frontrunners in horror since the genre began: even oral nursery rhymes rely on some form of witchcraft or element of the paranormal to successfully scare kids into behaving. As more chillers appear in modern cinema, it’s apparent that the paranormal is here to stay:
The Exorcist: Seeing a 12-year-old girl’s head spin all the way around is enough to make even the hardiest person bring up their lunch. This story about a girl possessed by a malevolent spirit is one of the most celebrated horror flicks in history for good reason. It spawned the subgenre of faith-horror as well as the popular trend of evil children and, despite being over forty years old, the special effects and themes of the film still succeed in sending violent shivers down spines.
Paranormal Activity: What’s worse than a ghost movie? A ghost movie filmed in CCTV footage! The story of Katie and Micah haunted by a demonic presence famously had people screaming and jumping from their seats. With good reason. It’s not just the noises and the jump scares that make this movie horrifying, the fact that it’s filmed in security-camera style gives it an unnerving level of realism that will make the most cynical people flinch.
The Conjuring: Two paranormal investigators are hired to help a family being terrorised in their farmhouse by a dark presence. Perhaps the most terrifying thing about James Wan’s haunter films is that nobody is immune. Victims in The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 veer away from just being teens like in ‘80s slasher movies and include everyone: mothers, fathers, and kids. Based on true stories, The Conjuring, as well as Wan’s Insidious about a comatose boy being victimised by malevolent forces, use the steps of period horror masterfully to create anxiety and suspense. – Jess (Writer)
Carrie: What’s worst about the tale of Carrie is that we can all relate. Everyone’s been bullied at some point, the only difference is we didn’t have telepathic powers with which to punish the entire town! Brian de Palma’s ‘70s classic is beautiful and terrifying, playing on themes of peer pressure, broken families, and abjection. The paranormal element of telepathy adds the gore and creative murders into the mix, but the true horror of Carrie is its realistic themes.
The Ring: As if glitchy, black and white footage of a girl emerging from a well isn’t spooky enough, a week after seeing the image you end up dead! Adapted from the Japanese movies of the same name, The Ring has been made into a trilogy with drowned ghost girl, Samara, killing anyone who watches her haunted videotape. Abjection, an evil dead child, and slow suspenseful lead-ups in a race against death haunt these movies more than anything and will make you think twice before answering the phone.
Thrillers and Chillers:
Thrillers may have progressed since the days of pulp fiction, black and white noir, and whodunits, but their realisms and haunting characters certainly haven’t:
Psycho: No spooky night in would be complete without a visit to Norman Bates and his ‘mother’. Hitchcock’s classic horror about a woman brutally murdered in a shower by a suspicious female silhouette will still give you nightmares. Sophisticated, suspenseful, and made more so because it’s in black and white, the story of Norman Bates is iconic: so much in fact that it’s spawned an entire TV series! Psycho’s tastefulness as well as implied horror and brutality is what makes it timeless!
American Psycho: Years after Norman Bates, film and literature were hacked to quivering pieces with Patrick Bateman. A corporate yuppie cruising through life indulging in his vices: music, prostitutes, and murdering people. Built on the theme of the unreliable narrator, American Psycho is terrifying on so many levels and by the end of the movie, you’re not even sure you can trust your own mind anymore!
The Shining: It’s not often that I indulge in a horror movie, but when I do, it’s normally in the realm of psychological thrillers. I loved The Shining, it absolutely scared the crap out of me watching it for the first time. But the second time around – knowing where all the jump scares were – I was able to better appreciate the storyline of a man’s descent into madness and a young boy’s battles with telepathic powers. And the brilliant, suspenseful music! I preferred the book, but it’s amazing that the filmmakers were able to adapt it as well as they did in the ‘80s. Pro tip for the bookworms: read it outside, at night… – Ashleigh (FIB Sub-Editor & Writer)
Silence of the Lambs: “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti”… Says it all really. The thrilling tale of Detective Starling teaming up with infamous cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter to find a serial killer becomes a twisted game of cat-and-mouse that could chill a volcano. Amazing performances, a superb and suspenseful script, and disturbing imagery that would make Norman Bates blush: Silence of the Lambs has it all!
Of course there are millions more out there for you to choose: Wolf Creek, The Woman in Black, Dracula, Frankenstein, Misery, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist, Sleepy Hollow, Annabelle, Prom Night, Friday the 13th … the list goes on. But these are classics for a reason: why not give them a go tonight?
“Do you like scary movies?” Share your favourite below!